Passing data streams between remote cooperating systems

ABSTRACT

A method, computer program product, and/or system for facilitating communication between an origin machine and a target machine are provided. To facilitate communication, a reference to an original object of the origin machine is constructed within a remote object services level. Then reference is passed within the remote object services level from the origin machine to the target machine. The passing of the reference, in turn, causes a creation of a proxy and an invocation of a target method on the target machine.

DOMESTIC PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/856,804, filed on Sep. 17, 2015, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to passing data streams betweenremote cooperating systems, and more specifically, to facilitating anefficient exchange of streaming data constructs between remote machineswhile making remote procedure calls.

In general, contemporary cooperating systems provide streaming of largebinary objects using multiple processes and accounting for transmissionerrors. However, while contemporary cooperating systems provide thestreaming of binary data, they fail to provide a form that anapplication programmable interface will take. That is, at present,contemporary cooperating systems are not clear as to how a streaminginteraction between the two peers is established and managed.

SUMMARY

Embodiments include a method, system, and computer program product forfacilitating communication between an origin machine and a targetmachine are provided. The embodiments include constructing within aremote object services level a reference to an original object of theorigin machine; passing within the remote object services level thereference from the origin machine to the target machine; and in responseto passing the reference, causing a creation of a proxy and aninvocation of a target method on the target machine.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniquesof the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of thedisclosure are described in detail herein. For a better understanding ofthe disclosure with the advantages and the features, refer to thedescription and to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion ofthe specification. The forgoing and other features, and advantages ofthe invention are apparent from the following detailed description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a cloud computing environment according to an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2 depicts abstraction model layers according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a process flow of a streaming communication by an originsystem and a target system in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 4 depicts a schematic of a streaming communication between twosystems in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 5 depicts an evolution of the streaming communication between twosystems of FIG. 4 in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 6 depicts an evolution of the streaming communication between twosystems of FIG. 5 in accordance with an embodiment; and

FIG. 7 depicts an evolution of the streaming communication between twosystems of FIG. 6 in accordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail).The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 1, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or morecloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shownin FIG. 1 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network and/or network addressableconnection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 2, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 1) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 2 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62;servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks andnetworking components 66. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual privatenetworks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtualclients 75.

In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and pricing 82provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 84provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtualclassroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94;transaction processing 95; and mobile desktop 96.

In view of the above, embodiments described herein relate to passingdata streams between remote cooperating systems, and more specifically,to facilitating an efficient exchange of streaming data constructsbetween remote machines while making remote procedure calls.

In general, objects running on one system are provided with an abilityto invoke methods against remote objects (e.g., objects which reside onanother system) while passing, as an argument, an open stream (orstreams) of data as part of this invocation. In turn, the remotelyinvoked method is also provided with an ability to return an open streamas its response. In this way, a seamlessly transfer control of a streamof data (while it's open and in use) from an origin system to a targetsystem is created during a method invocation, along with a transfer of astream of data from the target system back to the origin system when theinvoked method returns a data stream.

It will be appreciated that the embodiments herein can be implemented bya hardware management console and support element that uses a layeredapproach to intra-system communications. In general, the hardwaremanagement console can provide an interface for configuring andoperating virtualized systems, such that a system administrator is ableto manage a software configuration and operation of partitions in aserver system, as well as to monitor and identify hardware problems. Thehardware management console communicates with each central processorcomplex (e.g. processor) of the virtualized system through the supportelement. When tasks are performed at the hardware management console,commands are sent to one or more support elements that then issuecommands to their central processor complexes. Central processorcomplexes can be grouped at the hardware management console so that asingle command can be passed along to as many as all of the centralprocessor complexes defined to the hardware management console. Forexample, one hardware management console can control a plurality ofsupport elements, while one support element can be controlled by aplurality of hardware management console.

With respect to the layered approach, a lowest layer involves code thatuses sockets or other low level transports to flow data between thesystems. A middle layer serves to multiplex conversations between thetwo nodes and takes steps to insulate upper layers from the connectionitself (connection re-establishment logic). A top layer consists of acomponent called remote object services (ROS) or that manages a remotepresence of objects on the systems or machines, e.g., in an ROS layer.

Generally, the ROS layer provides the ability to create a de factoreference to an object on a remote machine. Further, the ROS layercreates a local representation of this object (e.g., using Java proxysupport) behind which general interaction are facilitated with an actualobject residing on the remote machine. The ROS layer can also managecommunication, error handling, implicit garbage collection of objects onthe remote machine, etc., along with providing for a creation ofimplicit proxies.

With respect to implicit proxies, during the invocation of a methodagainst an object being managed by ROS layer, arguments being passed tothe method (if any) of a target system are typically serialized fortransport during the method invocation. Likewise, the response beingreturned from the invocation is serialized for the return trip to thecaller (origin system). This is adequate for many arguments and returnvalues. However there is, on occasion, the need to allow thepassing/returning of objects where their serialization is not practicalor desirable due to a serialized size, a loss of sematic usefulness whenserialized, and/or the object not being designed to be serialized.

For example, a serialized size makes communication of objectsimpractical when the object being returned, or passed, may reference agreat number of other objects, and because serialization is actuallyapplied to the web of object references, the actual serialized value maybe excessively large.

Further, with respect to a loss of semantic usefulness when serialized,the use of the passed/returned object may require a reference to a ‘livestate’ within the object on the origin system or machine. For example,if a passed object provides access to information which is constantlychanging on the origin system, the act of serializing objectsessentially makes a copy of these objects, which disassociates them fromthe origin system.

Also, as noted above, objects are not designed to be serialized.Correctly designing an object to be serialized requires that the objecttake into account future changes to ensure correct behavior as itevolves. This takes a conscious effort on the part of the developer(i.e., and can lead to unwanted maintenance).

In this way, the ROS allows objects to implement an interface calledproxyable, which provides information to ROS on how the object should bemodeled on the remote machine if the object is used as an argument orreturned by a method invocation. In turn, an ROS framework can avoidserialization and, instead, create an implicit proxy on the foreignsystem. The ROS generated proxy (e.g., internally referred to as aremote reference) is then substituted as the appropriate argument orresponse allowing the recipients of these objects (target systems) toeffectively call ‘to the other machine’ or origin system when therecipients use these implicit proxies during their course of operation.

As noted above, the ROS layer can also manage implicit garbagecollection of objects on the remote machine. That is, because proxiescan become extensively used as multiple remote method invocations takeplace (potentially to different remote systems), ROS takes steps toensure that a remote reference is effectively unique (and reusable) onthe source system. The local reference is kept from garbage collectingby a slow heart beat from any system or machine with an active remotereference. This extends the conceptual idea of a Java reference into theROS layer which relies on activity instead of a typicalis-the-object-anchored strategy to judge when it can be released forgarbage collection. When all remote references are allowed to garbagecollect (on the foreign machine(s)), their notification actions stopand, eventually, the real object on the local machine is released fromROS. This allows ROS to garbage collect on the local system, whichenables users to continue to rely on the typical Java use/release modelinstead of requiring that they explicitly release a proxy reference. Thelocal system need not know that the object it is interacting with isunder ROS management. Note that other than ROS using the proxyableinterface to determine the appropriate model, these actions take placewithout direct involvement of the users code.

In addition, ROS can address non-proxyable objects. Embodiments hereinrely on the proxied objects implementing the proxyable interface to takeadvantage of the implicit proxy support. The ability to proxy objectswhose classes are within the java virtual machine class library (e.g.,for example java.io.InputStream and java.io.OutputStream) is complicatedby the fact that two specific classes are not interfaces at all but are,instead, classes, which makes them ineligible for use with Java proxysupport. ROS can address this by performing, for example, a streamingcommunication between an origin system and a target system in accordancewith an embodiment.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a process flow 300 of an example operation thestreaming communication is depicted. The process flow 300 begins atblock 310, where the origin system constructs a reference to an originalobject of the origin system. The reference is a constructed object, notthe original object itself. The reference includes is a frameworkreference of the original object. Then, at block 315, the origin systempasses the constructed reference to the target system. That is, on theorigin system, when a method invocation involves the use of a stream, animplicit remote reference is created and passed along with the ROSinvocation to the remote machine (target system). This will cause thecreation of a proxy on the remote machine (target system).

Next, at block 325, the actual stream object is held by the ROSframework on the origin system. At block 335, the ROS framework on theremote machine instantiates in response to receiving the constructedreference an appropriate object that is used to encapsulate theinternally created ROS proxy.

Then, at block 345, the target system invokes a target method thatutilizes the stream as an input stream. Method invocations are directedto the enclosed proxy which, via the ROS framework, are passed to theactual target object on the originating system. In effect, the targetmethod is unaware that it is reading from a stream of data from theoriginal object of the origin system. That is, the object (appropriateobject) is then given to the target of the invocation (i.e. the method),which is essentially unaware that the object they are interacting withis actually consuming data from (or writing to) a remote stream.

The process flow can be symmetrical when handling a method responseinvolving a stream. In this case, the actual stream object stays on thetarget system and a proxy is created on the origin system. In oneembodiment, a focus is on providing the ability to seamlessly sharejava.io.InputStream and java.io.OutputStream (any non-final object) witha remote system.

Turning now to FIGS. 4-7, schematics 400, 500, 600, 700 of a streamingcommunication between two systems are depicted in accordance with anembodiment. That is, the schematics 400, 500, 600, 700 of FIGS. 4-7depict two machines, machine-A and machine-B, where a method invocationis initiated by code on machine-A targeting a method, myMethod( ), onmachine-B. Note that each figure subsequent to FIG. 4 builds upon aprior FIG. so that an evolution of the streaming communication can beunderstood. Further, note that a pre-existing proxy/target relationshiphaving been established prior to the method invocation is represented asfollows: a hexagon represents a proxy, a circle represents the target ofa proxy, and rounded-squares represent ROS elements used to manage theseconnections.

Beginning with schematic 400, the two machines that are cooperating,machine A and machine B, include user code area and ROS framework area.Items in the ROS framework are important for streaming communications,while not being directly accessed by user code (e.g., user code benefitfrom the existence of the ROS framework). A proxy object 100 isconceptually bound, via ROS, to object 200 on the remote machine. ROScomponents 101 and 201 facilitate the proxy/object relationship. Therelationships are shown with the bidirectional lines.

Turning to FIG. 5, a method invocation takes place against a proxyobject 100 with the schematic 500 illustrating this example usingserialized arguments and return values. A user invokes a method 301 bypassing an integer and expecting a response consisting of a string. Inthis example, both the integer and string are simple objects thatserialize (e.g., do not exploit implicit proxies). A request 302 iscommunicated to the ROS component 101 on the machine-A (origin machine).A request 303 is communicated to the ROS component 201 on the machine-B(target machine). The request 303 contains a serialized form of themethod argument (e.g., the serialized integer). Once arriving on themachine-B, the argument is de-serialized and presented to the targetobject 200 by a method invocation 304. The target object 200 processesthe request and creates a string that will be returned 305 to the ROScomponent 201 responsible for handling the request 303. The response306, which contains the serialized string, is communicated back to theROS component 101 on the machine-A. Once the response 306 arrives on themachine-A, the response 306 is handed back 307 through the proxy object100 to the original caller 308, completing the transaction.

FIG. 6, schematic 600 demonstrates an example creating of an implicitproxy. In FIG. 6, a user invokes a method 301 that accepts no argumentsand is returning an object 400 (e.g., Complex object). The object 400implements an interface (e.g., a Java interface, Complex), which existson both machine-A and machine-B. The object 400 also implements the ROSinterface (Proxyable). A request 302 is communicated to the ROScomponent 101 on the machine-A (origin machine). A request 303 iscommunicated to the ROS component 201 on the machine-B (target machine).In this example, there are no arguments being passed on the request 303.Once arriving at the ROS component 201 on the machine-B, the targetobject 200 is given the method invocation 304. The users target object200 processes the method invocation 304 and creates an object 400 thatwill be returned 305 to the ROS component 201 responsible for handlingthe request. Because the object 400 implements the ROS interface(Proxyable), this indicates to the ROS framework that a new proxypairing (e.g., 502, 501, 401, 400) should be established implicitly anda representation of this relationship should be communicated 306 to theROS element 101 waiting on the machine-A instead of the actual object400. In turn, this relationship is established and a proxy 502 isreturned 307 to the original caller 308.

Turning now to FIG. 7, schematic 700 demonstrates a return of a proxiedstream. In FIG. 7, a method 301 is invoked that accepts no arguments andis returning an InputStream object. For example, this object can be aJava virtual machine class library object that cannot be changed (e.g.,it can't be made Proxyable). This request 302 is communicated to the ROScomponent 101 on the machine-A (origin machine). A request 303 iscommunicated to the ROS component 201 on the machine-B (target machine).In this example, there are no arguments being passed on the request 303.Once arriving at the ROS component 201 on the machine-B, the targetobject 200 is given the method invocation 304. The target object 200)processes the request and creates an InputStream object 400 that will bereturned 305 to the ROS component responsible 201 for handling therequest.

Because the object cannot be serialized and is known to be anInputStream, this indicates to the ROS framework that a new proxypairing (503,501,401,400) should be established implicitly and arepresentation of this relationship should be communicated 306 to theROS element 101 waiting on the machine-A instead of sending the actualobject 400.

Once arriving within the ROS components on the machine-A, an instance ofan InputStream 504 is created on the machine-A which internally exploitsa proxied connection 503 to the actual source of data on the machine-B(e.g., the actual object 400). A proxy 502 is created to the InputStream504 instance and returned 307 to the original caller 308. When the userinvokes a read( )method against the InputStream proxy 502, the proxytarget 504, which is on the machine-A, obtains the data to return froman internal proxy 503 that accesses data from the remote proxy source ofdata (e.g., the actual object 400).

Note that while the schematic 700 illustrates the return of data, thissame concept be exploited when passing a stream as an argument. When astream is passed as an argument to a method invocation the ‘localinstance’ (InputStream 504 in the schematic 700) would be establishednot on the origin system (machine-A) but would have been created on thetarget system (machine-B). The proxy to this local instance (InputStreamproxy 502 in the schematic 700) would have been created on machine-B andpassed to the method as an argument allowing the called method toconsume data from a stream. In addition, while the above embodimentssupport for the passing/returning of Input and Output streams, otherembodiments can be applied to any object that could be extended in sucha way that it's internal function could be directed through a nestedproxy object.

Technical effects and benefits of embodiments here include facilitatingthe exchange of large amounts of information (exploits streaming) whencompared to building up large numbers of objects for an argument list;eliminating a need for developers to worry about establishing privatesockets and other out of band communication techniques for moving largeamounts of data during a method invocation; and allowing these targetedobjects to work locally or remotely (target objects/systems do not carewhere the data is coming from, as the target objects/systems are justconsuming data from the stream); and ensuring that a data flow ismanaged and controlled by the underlying framework (e.g., logging,compression, throttling, etc.). Thus, embodiments described herein arenecessarily rooted in configurable computing resources to performproactive operations to overcome problems specifically arising in therealm of passing data streams between remote cooperating systems (e.g.,these problems include the when serialization of objects is notpractical or desirable due to a serialized size, a loss of sematicusefulness when serialized, and/or the object not being designed to beserialized, resulting in unwanted processing costs and expenses).

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of onemore other features, integers, steps, operations, element components,and/or groups thereof.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer implemented method for facilitatingcommunication between an origin system and a target system comprising:constructing, by a processor disposed on the origin system, within aremote object services level a reference to an original object of theorigin system; passing within the remote object services level thereference from the origin system to the target system; and in responseto passing the reference, causing a creation of a proxy and aninvocation of a target method on the target system.
 2. The computerimplemented method of claim 1, wherein the reference includes a remoteobject services framework reference of the original object.
 3. Thecomputer implemented method of claim 1, wherein a remote object servicesframework on the target system instantiates a target objectencapsulating an internally created remote object services proxy inresponse to receiving the reference.
 4. The computer implemented methodof claim 1, wherein the proxy is received by the origin system from thetarget system based on the invocation of the target method.
 5. Thecomputer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the original object isstored by the remote object services framework on the origin system. 6.The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the target method isnot configured to accept arguments.
 7. The computer implemented methodof claim 1, wherein the original object is a data stream.
 8. Thecomputer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the original object isnot capable of being serialized.